Reading and painting

my version of prodigal son 7/12

About 8 years ago my sister sent me Henri Nouwen's Return of the Prodigal Son.  I didn't read it until Dr. Bill Kerley did  a series on it and we covered it in the Ordinary Life book group this spring.  While finishing it up, my sister completed the Ordination process.  I also finished my first watercolor course through the Art League.  So I was inspired to paint a version as a gift for my sister.  What is so fun about watercolor is that you leave the light areas alone and push the dark areas back with layers of color.  I used a wash on this and discovered how fun it was to study the importance of the light that Rembrandt used to tell this story.  I really prefer doing abstracts and I thought this was going to be just that, but as I worked on damp paper, I kept seeing more detail take shape.  I am really looking forward to starting my second watercolor class next Monday.  Hopefully I'll feel comfortable enough to share more.